LockLauncher: Add Up To 9 App Shortcuts To iPhone Lock Screen [Cydia]

If you aren’t too big on security, and your iOS device’s lock screen does not have a passcode set up, then it is likely that you will appreciate LockLauncher for jailbroken devices. The lock screen in an iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is designed to avoid accidental launch of apps, but this Cydia tweak goes against the whole concept of locking, and brings one-touch app launch to iDevices, right from the lock screen! With this tweak you can choose any 9 apps that you want to pin to the lock screen, and although the interface of the whole thing could have been a lot better, it does bring a unique and new functionality to the table.

LockLauncher is available for free in the ModMyi repo of the Cydia store. Once you have installed the tweak to your iDevice, it will be enabled straight away, without having you do so yourself from within Settings. By default, when you go to your lock screen after installation, there will be just 9 blank tiles present there. You have to set up the shortcuts before you can start using the tweak. Doing so is easy; all you have to do is tap the small blue arrow at the left of the screen, and then tap a tile. This will bring up a list of all the apps on your device that can be mapped to the tile. Using LockLauncher you can access both stock and third-party apps, but the whole thing won’t work if you use a passcode lock. Of course the icons will be there, but tapping them will be a real headache. The interface of LockLauncher could have been a whole lot better if the blank tiles didn’t show up on the lock screen. For now, you are forced to choose all 9 shortcuts to pin to the screen, as otherwise there is going to be a blank tile staring at you all the time.

Some people might argue that the tweak defeats the whole purpose of having a lock screen We believe that LockLauncher can become way more useful if instead of tapping an icon, you had to slide across it, drag it across the screen to unlock to the associated app, or if you had to double-tap the Home button to reveal the shortcuts. However, even as it is, the tweak does succeed in adding ease of access to the lock screen, and for that, jailbroken users might want to give it a try.

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